According ex-spy, KGB started black legend of Pius XII

The Kremlin was mostly to blame for a smear campaign against the wartime Pope, Pius XII.

Thats according to Ion Mihai Pacepa, a high ranking former Soviet spy, who remains in hiding in the United States.

In the American journal National Review Online, General Pacepa reveals that in the 1960s the Kremlin ordered him to discredit the Pope by infiltrating the Vatican archives.

Fr Peter Gumpel
Postulator, Beatification Cause of Pope Pius XII
"If anything it confirms what we have known for some time. That much of the propaganda against Pius XII from Soviet Russian sources".

General Pacepa discovered nothing incriminating in his searches. And what he did find was later doctored by the Kremlin who were angry at the Vaticans anti-communist stance.

Father Gumpel says that others followed the Soviet lead, ignoring the Popes efforts to protect the Jews from Nazi tyranny, and smearing his reputation instead.

Fr Peter Gumpel
Postulator, Beatification Cause of Pope Pius XII
"The people who do this have never lived under a dictatorship, either in Nazi Germany or in Russia. To me I have lived under the Nazis, my family were really persecuted by the Nazis for political reasons, a number of my family were killed by them and therefore we were aware of what was feasible and not feasible at that period".

If Pius XII had spoken out more in the defence of the Jews, says Father Gumpel, it would have worsened their situation.

For Father Gumpel, who has studied Pius XIIs life more than anyone else, has no doubts about his sanctity.

Fr Peter Gumpel
Postulator, Beatification Cause of Pope Pius XII
"If ever I would have come to the decision that this cause would not go on, I would not have signed the papers. But the more I have studied it, the more I am convinced that this man is a saint".

The beatification of Pius XII, who died in 1958, will depend on the authenticity of at least one reported miracle.

But he may reach a major milestone as early as this summer when experts predict hell be declared a Venerable of the Church.

Category:

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• Pius
• XII
• KGB
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[VictorLepanto]

Well, at 1st I was opposed to your views, but now that you have written it in all caps it makes much more sense to me. People knew about the murders, the degree & means was not known. Only a few like Churchill or FDR had an inkling of what was actually happening.

The Pope & the Vatican made many statements denouncing Nazism, in various ways. In the midst of the war it was more important to take action. 10s of thousands of Jews were saved in Vatican facilities. 100s were sent to Israel.

[baldwalrus7]

No. Not true. No unbiased historian "admits" that he was pro-Nazi. That is nothing more than a lie.

[costi1985]

Ion Mihai Pacepa was the highest ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the former Eastern Bloc. He was Romanian.

[Saleemyassin]

@TheTrinityRo sa ne bagam amandoi pl in rasa si in mortii lui.:D

[nexxt87]

@sekulaadam 500 years ago by the way. 

[JulianCH59]

lies and lies

[TDLProductionsNL]

Ion Mihai Pacepa was not a Soviet spy. He was from the Romanian intellegence.

[sekulaadam]

Catholic church this wonderful institution which burn people alive 'cause they had different views

[TheTrinityRo]

Omg,KGB it would be strongly recommended for you to kill Pacepa,the spy chief ,a bloody traitor for his country! He was CIA double agent ,that mother fucker! i wonder if i am safe after i post this patetic comment,but it's the reality!

[IustitiaPax]

@defgill Israeli diplomacy after 1967 no longer tolerated Pope Pius XII's critical stance on Zionism, and engaged in the (Communist-originated) propaganda against His Holiness, who was a Pastor Angelicus and a great Holy Father for us all. Santo subito, Pio XII!